A Night of Texas Wine: The 3rd Annual BHA Texas Wine Tasting

A few weeks ago, actually right around the beginning of the month, The Brownsville Historical Association had its 3rd Annual Texas wine tasting.  The crowd grew from 70 attendees last year to just over 120 this year.  The wine flowed freely, and sold rapidly after the event was over.  This was great for BHA, and I hope the event continues to grow.

There was a slight change in the format this year though, instead of trying a variety of wines from different vineyards, we had a variety of wines from just one specific vineyard: Flat Creek Estate.  Last year, Flat Creek was represented at the tasting when we sampled their Super Texan, which is modeled after Italy's Super Tuscan.  Flat Creek Estate is located in Central Texas just north west of Austin.  It features a number of Italian varietals, as they seem to take well to our Texas soil and climate.  This year we had eight excellent wines from Flat Creek Estate and the owner, Rick Naber, to guide us through the fine selection.

Our first selection was a 2010 Pinot Grigio.  This was a great light and crisp wine to get started on.  The Pinot Grigio was crisp and citrusy with loads of apple and apricot on the nose and on the palate.  The wine had a nice crisp finish that was quite refreshing.  We paired the wine with ceviche and a Greek salad.  The citrus was perfect with the ceviche, the two complimented each other nicely.  The wine was also a fine counterpoint to the salad with the crispness cutting through the savory dressing.  This is a great wine for the summer, and I plan to stock up some for what will likely be a long and hot summer.

The second selection stayed in the early dinner white wines with a 2009 Viognier.  The wine had a bold and expressive nose.  On the palate the Viognier was initially thick and sweet, but as it moved through the mouth you could pick up a more acidic bite.  This wine wound up smoothly with a slightly syrupy finish.  Rick had us pair the Viognier with spinach and cheese empanadas.  It was a good pairing, with the sweetness of the wine cutting through the salty white cheese and rich spinach. 

Our third wine moved over into the red territory with the Buckin' Horse Red Wine.  The Buckin' Horse was essentially a house red, which I'm generally not too fond up.  However, I loved this wine, as did most of the attendees.  The Buckin' Horse had a nice light nose.  This was followed with good light fruit and berries on the palate.  The wine finished smoothly with very light tannins.  The Buckin' Horse was paired with a plethora of soft and salty white cheeses and olives.  This was an excellent combination that brought out the best in the wine.  The Buckin' Horse was a great well balanced red that unfortunately is no longer going to be produced under the same name (hopefully we'll be kept appraised of what the new name will be though).  So if you see some out there, grab it and enjoy it and the bottle art.

The fourth wine was our old friend, the Super Texan.  The Super Texan was light and fruity with loads of raspberry and blackberry on the nose and palate.  Despite its lightness, the Super Texan had good structure that asserted itself and provided more fullness on the palate towards the rear of the palate.  Supple tannins allowed for a smooth light finish.

A 2008 Meritage came fifth, and was by far the richest and most robust wine of the night.  The Meritage had a full bodied nose that was loaded with dark red fruit and cassis.  On the palate you again savored the cassis and dark red berries and cherries.  Despite its heavy dark flavors, the Meritage was extremely well balance.  Bigger and bolder tannins gave this wine a much longer and drier finish that lingered nicely.  We sampled this wine with both chorizo and ham empanadas and it seemed as though the wine was tailor made for pork.  The salty and savory goodness of the empanadas paired fantastically with the rich red berries in the wine.  The spice in the chorizo was especially good. 

Our final red of the night was a 2008 Syrah that had a good nose full of light fruit.  The Syrah was slightly sweet, but that was to be expected since raspberry and boysenberry dominated the palate.  Even with all the light fruit, the Syrah still maintained a full flavor.  Easy going tannins provided an easy and smooth finish. 

Finally we hit the dessert wines with a 2008 Moscato d'Arancia Orange.  This white had a big fruity and sweet nose.  I didn't think it was possible, but the Moscato was even sweeter on the palate.  Unlike a lot of dessert wines, the Moscato was light and not syrupy, despite the high sugar content.  Thanks to its lightness the Moscato had a nice light and orangey finish.  This wine went very well with fruit and cheese cake.  The sugar rush afterwards was also quite enjoyable.

The final wine of the evening was a real surprise.  Normally I'm not the biggest fan of sparkling wines, and you can tell they aren't covered much on the blog.  However, I can say that I am now a huge fan of Flat Creek Estate's Sparkling Almond.  Smelling the wine was like being in a pastry shop.  It was sweet, light, and smelled of pastry and almonds.  You could really taste the almond on the palate as well and it mixed perfectly with the white sparkling wine.  The Sparkling Almond was refreshing, effervescent, light, and finished easily.  This wine went down very easily which could have led to some severe inebriation.  The only problem was that as soon as we ended, the attendees rushed to get more of this wine, or buy up the remaining bottles.

All in all this was en excellent event.  Great wines and food combined with a jovial atmosphere--this is what makes learning about wine fun.  A big thanks goes out to Feldman's for hooking BHA up with Flat Creek Estate for the event.  Feldman's carries the wines I reviewed here, but some can be hard to find.  Besides the Sparkling Almond, Flat creek offers a Sparkling Raspberry and other flavors.  For more information on Flat Creek and its wines you can visit: www.flatcreekestate.com

Savoring a Tolosa Syrah

Our first post on this blog was all about Tolosa's incredible 1776 Pinot Noir.  Because it was so good, Pris and I have been reticent to try the winery's standard Pinot.  However, sometime back we found a bottle of 2007 Edna Creek Syrah at Feldman's and decided to give it a tasting last Sunday.

The first thing you notice is how dark this Syrah is: deep purple and opaque.  On the nose it was all berry and plum with just a hint of pepper.  Despite its dark look, this was a relatively light wine.  Light berry and plum notes continued on the palate mixed with a touch of mineral and pepper towards the back of the mouth.  Soft tannins provide a light and smooth finish to this readily drinkable Syrah.

I paired the wine with a roasted leg of lamb seasoned with garlic and rosemary, couscous with feta, and some olives.  The well balanced wine was a perfect compliment to the mild and savory lamb.  Since Pris isn't the biggest fan of lamb, I also prepared a flank steak for her.  The Tolosa Syrah also paired surprisingly well with the steak.  It is a flavorful, but not overly beefy cut; and the lighter wine served as a nice compliment.

We purchased the Tolosa 2007 Edna Creek Syrah at Feldman's Market Center in Brownsville for $22.99.  This is a great well balanced and versatile wine.  You can pair it with a broad range of foods thanks to its lighter, but full flavored character. For more information on this good little wine you can visit:  www.tolosawinery.com